Migration Workflow

Core Principles

1. Verify before applying — Always review generated migration SQL before applying to any database. dotnet ef migrations script shows the exact SQL. Never apply blindly.
2. Rollback plan always — Every migration has a rollback. For EF Core: dotnet ef database update <PreviousMigration>. For packages: git revert. For .NET version: branch-based rollback. Document the rollback before applying.
3. Test after migration — Run the full test suite after every migration step. Migrations that break tests are not complete. Integration tests with Testcontainers catch real database issues.
4. One change per migration — Each EF Core migration should represent a single logical change (add table, rename column, add index). Multiple unrelated changes in one migration make rollback impossible.
5. Incremental updates — Update one package at a time, build, test. Update one target framework at a time, build, test. Never batch unrelated changes — when something breaks, you need to know which change caused it.

Patterns

EF Core Migration Workflow

Step-by-step workflow for creating and applying database migrations safely.